Two thirds of all golfers in the UK now where soft spikes, according to a new survey.
Sports Marketing Surveys, has revealed that the number of golfers wearing these 'alternative cleats' has doubled in the last 12 months confirming a major shift in the golf market to green-friendly footwear.
Data shown by SMS, the leading sports research analysts, who also identify the clubs carried by leading players, 67.1% of golfers in the UK wore alternative cleats over the winter almost twice the proportion from the previous year (34.2%).
Top shoe manufacturer FootJoy claims that the shift is attributable to its decision 18 months ago to fit Softspikes' Black Widow cleats in all new FootJoy shoes.
Says FootJoy, based in St Ives in Cambridgeshire: "There's a significant advance in traction performance of the Black Widow over all previous and competitive alternative cleats."
Interviews at 73 golf courses in February and March revealed that 288 golfers were asked about their experience with 'soft spikes' and four out of five said they preferred them.
They were more comfortable, achieved similar grips and did less damage to greens.
Over three quarters of respondents had worn alternative cleats over an extended period and 83% rated them either 'Good or okay' compared to metal spikes.
Soft spikes were introduced in to the US in the mid 1990s when hundreds of courses decided they did less damage to the greens. A few years later many courses in the UK and on the Continent have introduced rules that make them 'compulsory' rather than 'preferred.'
Being moulded from synthetic materials, alternative cleats need periodic replacement, reflected in the finding that 39% of golfers had replaced their cleats/spikes in the previous three months.
What do you think of the alternative cleat? Do you still prefer metal spikes or find the new versions are more comfortable? Log on to the Forum and have your say.
